Sachusetts



(No Model.)

W. S. SCALES.

SPEED INDICATOR.

No. 588,931. Patented Aug. 24,1897.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VILLIAM S. SCALES, OE EVERETT, MASSAOHUSE'FS, ASSIGNOR TO E. T.

FRNESS, O. E. MICHELE, AND JOSEPH SELIGMAN, OE BOSTON, MAS- SAOIIUSETTS.

SPEED-INDICATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming' part of Letters Patent No. 588,931, dated August24, 1897.

Application led January 22, 1897. Serial No. 620,253. (No model.)

T0 all whom zit may concer/t:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM S. ScALEs, el? Everett, inthe county ofMiddlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Speed-Indicators, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention has relation to mechanisms for indicating the rate ofspeed at which a moving part, such as a vehicle-wheel or a shaft, isrotated, and has for its object to provide such improvements in the samethat the movement of the moving part will be transmitted to theindicating devices without the employment of a rotating governor and itsconsequent disadvantages,and through the medium of anintermittently-aeting device such as is ordinarily employed incyclometers.

The invention consists of a speed-indicator equipped with those featuresof construction and arrangement which are illustrated on the drawings,and new to be described in detail, and set forth in the claims heretoannexed.

Of the drawings, Figure 1 shows in front elevation that particularembodiment of my invention which I have chosen to illustrate anddescribe as the best form now known by me, together with the actuatingdevice which is secured to the vehicle-wheel. Fig. 2 is a plan view ofthe same, somewhat enlarged. Fig. 3 represents a vertical cent-ralsection through the same. Fig. 4 represents a longitudinal section onthe line at 4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 represents a similar section en the line5 5 of Fig. 3. Figs. 6 and 7 are plan views of the speed-indicatingmechanism with the rackarm removed for the purpose of. illustrating howthe latter is moved. Fig. S represents an enlarged longitudinal sectionthrough the cylinder and piston.

In carrying out my invention I may embody it in forms of various kinds,and hence it will be understood that while I have, as above stated,illustrated the best form of my invention now known to me, I am notlimited to the details of construction thereof and may vary them asoccasion or necessity requires.

Referring to the drawings, the casing, in which is mounted the mechanismwhich is more particularly adapted for use on a bicycle, is indicated bya, and is covered by a cap a', having a glass 'face u?, through whichthe indicator-hands may be seen. A dialplate a3 is secured in the casinga and may be suitably marked with a graduated scale a", indicating thespeed at which the bicycle is traveling, or covered with a printed dialsuitably marked, as desired. Vithin the easing I mount not only thespeed-indicating mechanism, but also cyelometer or distanceregisteringmechanism, so that the dial is also arranged to reveal the numerals onlthe disks of and marked with a scale for the pointers of the cyclometermechanism. As the lastnamed mechanism forms no part of this inventionand may be of any approved pattern or kind, I have not illustrated it,though I provide for mounting it in the chamber a6 between the plate@Sand a partition-plate a5, located centrally in the casing.

The casing is supported on the usual angular arm R, mounted upon theaxle of the bicycle outside the front fork B, and power is imparted tothe mechanism therein by means of an actuating device consisting of asegmental cam O, attached to the bicyclewheel by clamps O. A lever l),having a roller b' on the free end thereof, is secured upon theprojecting end of a shaft c, extended through a boss b2 on the bottom ofthe casing and through the partition-plate di into the compartment CLG.The roller o is engaged once during each revolution of the wheel by thecam, and the lever is oscillated about the axis, so as to rock the shaftc, from which shaft motion is transmitted to the distanceregisteringmechanism in the compartment d and to the speed-indicating mechanism nowto be described.

Secured upon the bottom plate of the casing is a cylinder d, having oneend closed and in which a piston d' is reciprocated by a piston-rod d2.The piston is provided with suitable packing, so that it may be forcedrapidly toward the closed end of the cylinder and be forced to returnslowly to its original position, or, if desired, the cylinder maybesuitably valved to produce this result. As shown in Fig. 8, the pistonconsists of two disks d3 d, between which is clamped a disk of kid orother suitable flexible material, which extends out, as shown, to act asa valve in allowing the air to escape when the piston is ICO movedinward and retains it when the said piston begins its outward movement.

The end of the piston-rod passes through a fixed guide e, secured uponthe bottom plate, and there is a wire spring e', one end secured to ascrew c2 on the said plate and the other end inserted in an aperture inthe said rod for returning the piston to its normal position when it hasbeen forced inward.

Upon the rod is secured a flanged collar d5, which is engaged 'by theend of an arm c', seA cured upon the shaft c and normally abuttingagainst a 'fixed stop c2. The hub of the arm is formed with acam-shoulder c3 on one side of the shaft c and a cam c4 on the otherside thereof, which coact with certain parts to be hereinafter referredto.

An arm fis mounted loosely upon the shaft c and is provided on its upperface with guides zo ff', in which is placed a sliding barfz, having aV-shaped end and normally held upward by a spring f 3.

The outer end of the arm fis extended laterally, and the edge f4 iscurved in the are of a circle whose center is in the axis of the shaftc. Itis provided with a lug or ingerf, which projects behind the flangeof the collar d5 on the piston-rod (Z2. The iin ger is held against theflange of the said collar by a springf, one end of which is attached toapost f7, extending up from the bottom plate of the casing, and theother end is attached to a lug f8, projecting out from the hub of thesaid arm f. The spring e is much stronger than the spring f6, so thatunder ordinary conditions, when the mechanism is not in use, thefirst-mentioned spring will hold the piston (Z2 in its inoperativeoutward position against tension of the springf, Also loosely mounted onthe shaft c is a segment-arm g, provided with rack-teeth on its outeredge, which engage a pinion 7L on an arbor 7i', mounted in the plates a3and a5 of the easing and projecting above the said plate a3 to receive apointer or indicator h2, which is adapted to travel around the graduatedscale al.

The segment-arm g (see Fig. G) is formed with a cam g', having aV-shaped notch or recess g2 in the planes of the bar]c2 and in which thelower end of the said baris adapted to enter to register the segment-armwith the arm fthat is to say, if the 'segment-arm g were at an angle tothe arm fand the bar f2 were thrust downward its V-shaped end wouldengage one of the sides of the notch and force the segment-arm to oneside until it lay parallel to the said arm f.

For the purpose of operating the bar f2 l employ a slide t', havingslots t" i', through which screws i2 pass to secure it to the bottom ofthe casing. It is located to one side of the shaft c and out of the pathof the segment-arm, being provided with a lateral extension t3, whichprojects over the arm f and has an edge nearest the shaft c concentrictherewith and just escaping the end of the bar f2. Thus itwill be seenthat the arm f and the bar may be swung to the side without beingaffected by the slide, although the extension i3 will be in engagementwith the end of the said bar f2, provided the slide be in its nornalinoperative position, as shown in Fig. 4, to which it is moved and heldby a spring t, having one end attached to a screw i5 and the other endprojecting into an aperture in the slide t'. The said slide is adaptedto be reciprocated to effect the operation of the slide-bar f2 by meansof the cam cl on the hub of the lever c', which engages a pin ff,projecting downward from the slide.

A locking-lever having a long arm j and a short arm j and pivoted by ascrew jg to the bottom of the casing is employed to intermittingly lockthe arm f against movement during certain times for the purpose to behereinafter described. The short end, which is at an angle to the longend, is provided with a pinjs, which projects up just beyond the curvededge of the arm f, while the long end of the lever rests against the hubof the lever e andjustagainst the cam or shoulder c3.

Then the parts are in the position shown in Figs. It and 5, the pin jsrests loosely against the curved edge of the arm f, so as to allow thearm to be freely moved about the shaft c, but when the lever c' has beenthrown to the left, as in Fig. G, the shoulder cS (or cam) throws theouter end ,7' of the lever to the right and forces the pin against theedge of the arm f, so as to bind the latter against movement until thearm c' has resumed its normal position.

The operation of the device is as follows: Assuming that thebicycle-wheel, which is twenty-eight inches in diameter, is revolving atthe rate of one revolution per second, which would be a speed of livemiles an hour, and that as the said wheel revolves the cam C engages theroller h' and through the lever h, the shaft c, and the arm c forces thepiston to the closed end of the cylinder, the packing or the valves inthe cylinder are so arranged that during the remainder of the second thepiston will be moving to its normal position, or, in other words, itwill take, for instance, exactly one second to force the piston inwardand allow it to return to its normal position under the impulse of thespring e. But suppose that the speed of the wheel is doubled, so thatthe wheel is traveling at the rate of ten miles per hou r. Then beforethe piston reaches the outer limit of its movement the arm c strikes theflanged collar and, checking its movement, drives it forward again. Thepiston travels through a predetermined space or at a predetermined rateof speed, while the movement of the bicycle-wheel and the arm c isvariable, so that the indicator will not be affected by the wheel un tilthe latter travels fast enough to cause the checking of the piston at apoint between the extremes of its movement. Hence it will be seen thatby moving the indicator-pointer to indicate the relative point at whichthe piston is checked or the relative IOO IIO

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distance through which it has traveled the rate of speed at which thewheel is traveling will be indicated. Assuming that when the wheel istraveling at the rate of ten miles an hour the piston is checked when ithas retraversed four-fifths of the distance between the eXtrem es of itsmovement, then the mechanism' previously described causes the arm 71,2to be moved along the graduated scale (which is arbitrarily arranged) tothe numeral l0. Vhen the lever Z) is thrust to one side by the cam C tocause the arm c to thrust the piston to the forward extreme of itsmovement, the Very first movement of the said arm c' causes the cam c3on its hub to thrust the lower end of the lever j outward, so as to lockthe segment-lever against movement; but as soon as the arm c' returns toits normal position (which occupies a very small fraction of a second)the leverj also returns to its normal position and, releasing thesegment-lever,allows thesprinfto force the latter forward until t-he lugf5 meets the flanged collar on the piston-rod, the rack-arm g remainingstationary. The piston forces the segment-lever backward until itsmovement is checked by the arm c striking the flanged collar and forcingit forward again, and as the said arm begins its movement thesegment-lever is locked and the slide e' is moved by the cam c4 to forcethe bar f2 into engagement with the walls of the recess or V-shapednotch g2 in the cam g and moves the segment-arm into parallelism withthe said bar. This movement of the cam g (and the rackbar g) causes thepartial rotation of the pinion h and the consequent movement of thepointer h2. Then, so long as the bicycle travels at this same rate ofspeed, the racklever and the pinion will both remain in the positionsjust described; but if the rate of speed of the bicycle is increased thetravel of the piston will be shorter and the racklever will be forced,through the medium of the parts just mentioned, farther to the left tocause the pointer to indicate on the graduated scale the said rate ofspeed.

In addition to the above-described features the indicator has a pointerh3 mounted loosely in an aperture in the dial-plate and below thepointer 712. It has a pin h4 projecting upwardly, with which the pointerh2 may engage, so as to move the said pointer h3 to the farthest extremeof its movement, at which point it remains by its frictional 'engagementwith the dial-plate, thus indicating the highest degree of speedattained by the bicycle.

To return it to its original position, the cap or cover ct/ has a springd10, (see Fig. 2,) which when the cap is revolved engages vthe pin it*and carries the pointer h3 with it.

It will be understood that l do not limit myself to the precise detailswhich l have is being actuated.

the device being employed in connection with a bicycle-wheel it will beremembered that it may be used with any other moving part, such as acarriage-wheel, a rotating shaft, or the like.

l have found that, if desired, I may dispense with the lock whichprevents the segment lever or arm from moving, and may in such casedepend upon the engagement of the slide with the sliding bar to lock thesaid segment-lever in position while the said bar Gther parts may beomitted or varied, as above stated, the essential feature of theinvention consisting in means for indicating the variations in thelength of the movements of a device operating through a predeterminedspace in a predetermined time, and the length of whose movements isvaried in accordance with the speed of rotation of the bicycle-wheel orother part, and the speed of which it is desired to indicate.

Vhat l claim isl. A speed-indicator, comprising a device moving througha predetermined space at a predetei-mined rate of speed, and whosemovements are affected by the rotating part the rate of speed of whichis to be indicated, and mechanism for indicating the variations in themovements of the said device.

2. A speed-indicator comprising a device having a predetermined range ofmovement in a predetermined period of time, and the lengths of whosemovements are varied according to the speed of the bicycle-wheel, andmechanism for indicating the length of each movement of the s'aiddevice.

A. speed-indicator comprising a device having a predetermined range ofmovement in a predetermined period of time, and the lengths of whosemovements are varied according to the speed of the bicycle-wheel, andmechanism for indicating the variations in the range of movement of thesaid device.

et. A speed-indicator comprising a device having a predetermined rangeof movement in a predetermined period of time, and the lengths of whosemovements are varied according to the speed of t-he bicycle-wheel, andmechanism for indicating the position of the said device at the end ofeach movement.

5. A speed-indicator comprising a device reciprocating at an arbitraryrate of speed, and the lengths of whose reciprocations are varied inaccordance with the rate of speed at which the bicycle-wheel istraveling, and mechanism for indicating the variations in the length ofthe reciprocations Of the said device.

6. A speed-indicator, comprising a device moving through a predeterminedspace at a determined rate of speed, and whose movements are affected bythe rotating part, the rate of speed of which is to be indicated, andinterniittingly-acting mechanism for indicating the variations in themovements of said device.

7. A speed-indicator comprising a device IOO IIO

reciprocating at an arbitrary rate of speed, and the lengths of whosereciprocations are varied in accordance with the rate of speed at whichthe bicycle-wheel is traveling, and intermittingly-acting mechanism forindicating the variations in the length of the reciprocations of saiddevice.

S. A speed-indicator comprising a device moving through a predeterminedspace at a determined rate of speed, and whose movements are affected bythe rotating part, the rate of speed of which is to be indicated, andmechanism actuated by the said moving part, for indicating thevariations in the movements of said device.

9. A speed-indicator comprising a device reciprocating at an arbitraryrate of speed, and the lengths of whose reciprocations are varied inaccordance with the rate of speed at which the bicycle-wheel isrotating, and mechanism, actuated by the bicycle-wheel, for indicatingthe variations in the length of the reciprocations of said device.

10. A speed-indicator, comprising an intermittingly-actuated deviceoperated by the bicycle-wheel, and having a predetermined movement in apredetermined period of time, the lengths of whose movements are variedin accordance with the rate of speed of the bicycle-Wheel, and mechanismfor indicating the variations in the length of movement of the saiddevice.

1l. A speed-indicator, comprising a device reciprocating at an arbitraryrate of speed, and the length of whose reciprocations is varied inaccordance with the speed of the bicycle-wheel, and mechanism forindicating the variations in the length of the reciprocations of saiddevice, comprising a pointer, and means actuated by said bicycle-Wheeland controlled by said device for moving said pointer.

12. A speed-indicator, comprising a device reciprocating at an arbitraryrate of speed, and the length of whose reciprocations is var'ried inaccordance with the speed of the bicycle-wheel, and mechanism forindicating the variations in the length of the reciprocations of saiddevice, comprising a pointer, means for moving said pointer, and meansfor operating the last said means at the end of each reciprocation ofsaid device.

13. A speed-indicator, comprising a device reciprocating at an arbitraryrate of speed, and the length of Whose reciprocations is varied inaccordance with the speed of the bicycle-wheel, and mechanism forindicating the variations in the length of the reciprocations of saiddevice, a pointer, means for moving said pointer, and means actuated bythe bicycle-wheel for operating the last said means, at the end of eachreciprocation of the device.

v14:. Aspeed-indicator consisting of a reciprocatory rod, means forchecking the movement ot said rod to cause it to move through apredetermined distance at a predetermined time, a lever operated by thebicycle-wheel for moving said rod once Jfor every revolution of thebicycle-Wheel, and mechanism for indicating the variations in the lengthof the movements of said rod.

15. A speed-indicator consisting of a reciprocatory rod, means forchecking the movement of said rod to cause it to move through apredetermined distance at apredetermined time, a lever operated by thebicycle-wheel for moving said rod once for every revolution of thebicycle-wheel, and mechanism intermittingly operated by said leverv forindicating the variations in the length of movements of said rod.

1G. A speed-indicator consisting of a reciprocatory rod, means forchecking the movement of said rod to cause it to move through apredetermined distance at a predetermined time, a lever operated by thebicycle-wheel for moving said rod once for every revolution of thebicycle-wheel, and mechanism, comprising a pointer, a rack, and pinionfor moving the pointer and means operated by said lever for moving saidrack to correspond with the variations in the length of movements ofsaid rod.

17. A speed-indicator, consisting of a longitudinally-reciprocatory rod,a piston and cylinder for checking the movement of said rod to cause itto normally move a predetermined distance in a predetermined time, anarm actuated by the bicycle-wheel for varying the length of movement ofsaid rod in accordance with the speed at which the bicyclewheelrevolves, and means operated once for each revolution of said wheel forindicating the length of movements of said rod.

18. A speed-indicator, consisting of a longitudinally-reciprocatory rod,a piston and cylinder for checking the movement of said rod to cause itto normally move a predetermined distance in a predetermined time, anarm actuated by the bicycle-wheel for varying the length of movement ofsaid rod in accordance with the speed at which the bicyclewheelrevolves, and mechanism actuated by the said bicycle-wheel forindicating the variations in the length of movements of said rod, saidmechanism comprising a pointer, having a pinion on its arbor, a slide, arackarm meshing with the pinion and having a cam, and a sliding barmoving laterally with said rod, and adapted to engage said cam, andmeans for actuating said slide at the end of each reciprocation of thesaid rod.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this speciiication, in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses, this 16th day of January, A. D.1897.

VILLIAM S. SCALES.

Vitnesses:

MARCUS B. MAY, PETER W. PEZZETTI.

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